This article explores reality TV's value in teaching sociological concepts and theories for a better understanding contemporary society. Reality TV serves as a rich canvas for illustrating key tenets of major sociological theories such as structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. By analyzing reality TV through a…

The COVID-19 pandemic forced institutions of higher education around the world to quickly transition to forms of distance education, including synchronous and asynchronous online learning. Often lacking conceptual, empirical, and practical understanding of online pedagogy, many institutions have met this endeavor with mixed success. It seems…

In this study, we explore how students identify and navigate the social structure of higher education and how, in doing so, they communicatively (re)produce socializing norms. To this end, we draw upon the work of the late educational sociologist Pierre Bourdieu to outline a critical communication pedagogical understanding of institutional…

"Teaching, Including, and Supporting College Students with Intellectual Disabilities" provides higher education professionals and proponents of post-secondary education programs for students with intellectual disabilities (ID) with a comprehensive guide to developing new programs and inclusive practices for college students with ID.…

The ability to effectively communicate with individuals from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds is an invaluable asset. Learning a second language proves useful as students navigate the culturally diverse world; however, studying a second language can be difficult for learners who are not immersed in the real and natural environment of…

Set against instructional practices that promote competition and individual performance, Dynamic Assessment, in our view, offers a more appropriate form of pedagogy for learners from cultural backgrounds that favour cooperation during joint activity. Indeed, these learners appear to be disadvantaged when negotiating the contrasting values and…

Acquiring argumentative reading and writing practices reflects a key component of recent curricular reforms in schools and universities throughout the United States and the world as well as a major challenge to teachers of reading and writing in K-12 and college writing classrooms. In this review, we consider the contributions of two research…

Guided design involves an instructor in developing a problem that students are expected to solve and then leading them, step by step, through the problem to its solution. This teaching method was used to help students explore how individuals, small groups, and then larger numbers of people in larger areas interact to form the Muncie (Indiana)…

Discusses two techniques for use on the college level in teaching about the sociology of deviance. The first technique helps students understand the relativity of their personal beliefs. The second technique deals with strategies for investigating membership in deviant social groups. (Author/DB)

Reports on two projects appropriate for undergraduate courses in the sociology of deviance, specifically courses emphasizing the labeling or symbolic interactionist perspective. The first project involves the use of confessional novels, and the second draws on the experiences of students regarding their own stigmas. (Author)

This paper attempts to incorporate the current research done on the rhetoric of social movements into a coherent syllabus for a basic rhetoric course. It deals with the adaptation of the tools of rhetoric at the disposal of the beginning student into a procedure for an analysis of social movements and provides that such an analysis give the…

Describes use of a mock "course grade lottery" to illustrate the relevance of Shirley Jackson's story "The Lottery" to students' own experiences. (HTH)

Describes several experiments, many designed to discover the public's response to unusual situations, conducted by college students in a public affairs reporting class. (TJ)

Offers ideas for developing distinct deviance, delinquency, and criminology curricula. Discusses how to reduce theoretical and content overlap, paper assignments, course readings, and departmental issues. Finds overlap and review of basic theories were helpful to students. Recommends deviance, criminology, and delinquency courses be theoretically…

Asserts that a longitudinal content analysis of smiling by senior women in college yearbooks provides beginning sociological students with an excellent way to discover many sociological concepts. Presents a classroom assignment in which students code college yearbooks for female smiles and make hypotheses about their findings. (CFR)